Students from South Devon College had the honour of breaking the ground as a new £17million project to develop Torbay’s high-tech leaders of the future began.

The ceremony at the college site in Long Road, Paignton marked the beginning of work on the college’s Hi-Tech and Digital Centre, which will support the growing high-tech manufacturing, digital and creative sectors in Torbay and the surrounding area.

Torbay MP Kevin Foster hailed the new development, saying: “This is excellent news for my constituents in Torbay, and the wider area. The high quality training it will provide will not only benefit local students before they enter a competitive jobs market, but will also attract new businesses to our area who will see that we are able to provide them with highly skilled employees.”

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Torbay’s expertise in the field goes back to the 1950s when the STC factory opened on the same site. Pioneer engineers developed fibre-optic technology on the site which has become a worldwide standard.

The new centre is due to open in September 2019, marking the first phase of a 15-year masterplan for the college.

How the new centre will look

Stakeholders for the brand new Hi-Tech and Digital Centre gathered to mark the very special Groundbreaking Ceremony on Friday 20th April, celebrating the formal start of the construction of the project. Speakers at the ceremony described the incredible investment happening in the Bay in the high-tech and digital sectors and paid tribute to the work of South Devon College Principal Stephen Criddle OBE.

The project has been developed in consultation with more than 40 local and regional businesses and the aim is for the centre to provide students with the skills employers need in fields such as electronics, lasers, fibre, satellite and communications, aerospace, marine and medical.

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The offer will also extend to creative industries including gaming, app design, digital design, film and digital media, smart clothing and textiles and many others.

The design includes 15 individual business units plus two large open-plan ‘collaboration zones’.

College vice-principal Laurence Frewin said: “This exciting project is already enabling the College to develop a new and flexible educational offer that is both distinctive and appealing to a wider range of both technically and creatively orientated young people.

“In turn, this will help to fill the skills gap of local employers, including in the digital and high-tech sectors, who provide sustainable jobs for local students. Our students will have even more opportunities to study at higher levels to gain a foundation or honours degree or learn while they earn with a higher or degree apprenticeship.”

Torbay Mayor Gordon Oliver added: “I am thrilled that work is now starting. The job market is rapidly changing and the high-tech area will be the future employer for many of today’s young people so this new centre will give Torbay an advantage in attracting new and keeping existing businesses here with well paid, cutting edge jobs for local residents.”

Funding has come from organisations including the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, the Higher Education Funding Council for Education, the European Regional Development Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation, South Devon College and private investors. It is being constructed by Midas Construction.